registry / emp-code / 0.5.9

emp-code@0.5.9

EMP CLI - coding agent with full-screen TUI (ink, clickable tool output, mouse, plan mode, markdown, vision) and 18 providers. Runs great on any light PC / weak CPU / old motherboard. Sessions, context, effort, web search, background tasks, revert.

AI Security Review

scanned 4h ago · by lpm-firewall-ai

Running emp web starts an unauthenticated service on every network interface. A network client can register an MCP command that is saved and executed by the server.

Static reason

High-risk behavior combination matched malicious policy.; source matched previously finalized malicious package; routed for review; source fingerprint signature matched known malicious package; routed for review

Trigger

The user runs emp web while the service is reachable from another network client.

Impact

A remote client can execute commands as the user and leave an MCP configuration that will run again when reloaded.

Mechanism

Unauthenticated MCP command registration followed by process spawning.

Rationale

The source establishes a serious remotely reachable command-execution vulnerability, but it requires the explicit web command and does not show automatic malicious execution on ordinary install. The environment-gated binary downloader is also unsafe because the downloaded executable is later launched without verification.

Evidence

emp-web/server.cjslib/mcp.js.emp/mcp.json

Network endpoints1

0.0.0.0

Decision evidence

public snapshot

AI called this Suspicious at 97.0% confidence as Critical Vulnerability with low false-positive risk.

Evidence for warning

The package runs a postinstall hook.
That hook can download an executable from an environment-selected URL without integrity verification.
The CLI launches that downloaded executable when present.
The web server enables automatic approval, listens on all interfaces, and exposes an unauthenticated endpoint that accepts an MCP command.
The MCP handler saves the supplied command and spawns it with the current process environment.

Evidence against

The postinstall download exits unless EMP_EXE_URL is already set.
The reviewed manifest has no dependency on another emp-code release.
The web server is started only by the explicit emp web command.

Behavioral surface

Source

ChildProcessDynamicRequireEnvironmentVarsFilesystemNetworkShell

Supply chain

HighEntropyStringsMinifiedUrlStrings

Manifest

NoLicense

scanned 26 file(s), 1.19 MB of source, external domains: aistudio.google.com, api.anthropic.com, api.b.ai, api.cerebras.ai, api.cohere.ai, api.example.com, api.groq.com, api.llm7.io, api.mistral.ai, api.openai.com, api.siliconflow.com, api.tokenrouter.com, api.true-sota.com, api.z.ai, b.ai, build.nvidia.com, console.anthropic.com, console.groq.com, console.mistral.ai, dashboard.cohere.com, dreamprompting.com, generativelanguage.googleapis.com, github.com, html.duckduckgo.com, huggingface.co, inference.cerebras.ai, integrate.api.nvidia.com, opencode.ai, openrouter.ai, platform.openai.com, raw.githubusercontent.com, react.dev, registry.npmjs.org, router.huggingface.co, routesme.online, s.wordpress.com, search.yahoo.com, siliconflow.com, tokenrouter.com, true-sota.com, www.w3.org, z.ai

Source & flagged code

26 flagged

package.jsonView file

Lines 1-37json

2 "name": "emp-code",

3 "version": "0.5.9",

4 "description": "EMP CLI - coding agent with full-screen TUI (ink, clickable tool output, mouse, plan mode, markdown, vision) and 18 providers. Runs great on any light PC / weak CPU / old motherboard. Sessions, context, effort, web search, background tasks, revert.",

5 "type": "commonjs",

6 "bin": {

7 "emp": "bin/emp.js"

8 },

9 "engines": {

10 "node": ">=14"

11 },

12 "scripts": {

13 "start": "node bin/emp.js",

14 "test": "node -e \"console.log('no tests')\"",

15 "build": "node scripts/build-exe.js",

16 "build:win": "pkg . --target node22-win-x64 --output dist/emp-win.exe",

17 "postinstall": "node scripts/postinstall.js",

High

Install Time Lifecycle Scripts

Package defines install-time lifecycle scripts.

package.jsonView on unpkg · L17

Medium

Ambiguous Install Lifecycle Script

Install-time lifecycle script is not statically allowlisted and needs review.

package.jsonView on unpkg · L17

18 "prepublishOnly": "node scripts/prepare-publish.js",

19 "postpublish": "node scripts/restore-after-publish.js"

20 },

21 "keywords": [

22 "cli",

23 "ai",

24 "coding-agent",

25 "nvidia-nim",

26 "opencode-zen",

27 "no-avx",

28 "windows"

29 ],

30 "author": "",

31 "license": "UNLICENSED",

32 "repository": {

33 "type": "git",

34 "url": "git+https://github.com/saintdevzz/emp-cli.git"

35 },

36 "homepage": "https://github.com/saintdevzz/emp-cli#readme",

37 "bugs": {

bin/emp.jsView file

Lines 1-27javascript

1#!/usr/bin/env node

2'use strict';

3if (!process.pkg) {

4 try {

5 const exeName = process.platform === 'win32' ? 'emp-win.exe'

lib/tools.jsView file

Lines 1-24javascript

1'use strict';

3const fs = require('fs');

4const path = require('path');

5const {

install.shView file

•path = install.sh kind = build_helper sizeBytes = 1217 magicHex = [redacted]

Medium

Ships Build Helper

Package ships non-JavaScript build or shell helper files.

install.shView on unpkg

emp-web/dist/server.cjsView file

•matchType = normalized_sha256 matchedPackage = emp-code@0.5.8 matchedPath = emp-web/dist/server.cjs matchedIdentity = npm:ZW1wLWNvZGU:0.5.8 similarity = 1.000 summary = normalized source hash matched finalized malicious source

High

Known Malware Source Similarity

Source file is highly similar to a previously finalized malicious package; route for source-aware review.

emp-web/dist/server.cjsView on unpkg

lib/tui.jsView file

•matchType = normalized_sha256 matchedPackage = emp-code@0.5.8 matchedPath = lib/tui.js matchedIdentity = npm:ZW1wLWNvZGU:0.5.8 similarity = 1.000 summary = normalized source hash matched finalized malicious source

High

Known Malware Source Similarity

Source file is highly similar to a previously finalized malicious package; route for source-aware review.

lib/tui.jsView on unpkg

emp-web/server.cjsView file

•matchType = normalized_sha256 matchedPackage = emp-code@0.5.8 matchedPath = emp-web/server.cjs matchedIdentity = npm:ZW1wLWNvZGU:0.5.8 similarity = 1.000 summary = normalized source hash matched finalized malicious source

High

Known Malware Source Similarity

Source file is highly similar to a previously finalized malicious package; route for source-aware review.

emp-web/server.cjsView on unpkg

lib/diagnostics.jsView file

•matchType = normalized_sha256 matchedPackage = emp-code@0.5.8 matchedPath = lib/diagnostics.js matchedIdentity = npm:ZW1wLWNvZGU:0.5.8 similarity = 1.000 summary = normalized source hash matched finalized malicious source

High

Known Malware Source Similarity

Source file is highly similar to a previously finalized malicious package; route for source-aware review.

lib/diagnostics.jsView on unpkg

lib/mcp.jsView file

•matchType = normalized_sha256 matchedPackage = emp-code@0.5.8 matchedPath = lib/mcp.js matchedIdentity = npm:ZW1wLWNvZGU:0.5.8 similarity = 1.000 summary = normalized source hash matched finalized malicious source

High

Known Malware Source Similarity

Source file is highly similar to a previously finalized malicious package; route for source-aware review.

lib/mcp.jsView on unpkg

scripts/postinstall.jsView file

•matchType = normalized_sha256 matchedPackage = emp-code@0.5.8 matchedPath = scripts/postinstall.js matchedIdentity = npm:ZW1wLWNvZGU:0.5.8 similarity = 1.000 summary = normalized source hash matched finalized malicious source

High

Known Malware Source Similarity

Source file is highly similar to a previously finalized malicious package; route for source-aware review.

scripts/postinstall.jsView on unpkg

lib/config.jsView file

•matchType = normalized_sha256 matchedPackage = emp-code@0.5.8 matchedPath = lib/config.js matchedIdentity = npm:ZW1wLWNvZGU:0.5.8 similarity = 1.000 summary = normalized source hash matched finalized malicious source

High

Known Malware Source Similarity

Source file is highly similar to a previously finalized malicious package; route for source-aware review.

lib/config.jsView on unpkg

lib/ui.jsView file

•matchType = normalized_sha256 matchedPackage = emp-code@0.5.8 matchedPath = lib/ui.js matchedIdentity = npm:ZW1wLWNvZGU:0.5.8 similarity = 1.000 summary = normalized source hash matched finalized malicious source

High

Known Malware Source Similarity

Source file is highly similar to a previously finalized malicious package; route for source-aware review.

lib/ui.jsView on unpkg

lib/providers.jsView file

•matchType = normalized_sha256 matchedPackage = emp-code@0.5.8 matchedPath = lib/providers.js matchedIdentity = npm:ZW1wLWNvZGU:0.5.8 similarity = 1.000 summary = normalized source hash matched finalized malicious source

High

Known Malware Source Similarity

Source file is highly similar to a previously finalized malicious package; route for source-aware review.

lib/providers.jsView on unpkg

Source & flagged code

26 flagged · loading source

package.jsonView file

•scripts.postinstall = node scripts/postinstall.js

High

Install Time Lifecycle Scripts

Package defines install-time lifecycle scripts.

package.jsonView on unpkg

•scripts.postinstall = node scripts/postinstall.js

Medium

Ambiguous Install Lifecycle Script

Install-time lifecycle script is not statically allowlisted and needs review.

package.jsonView on unpkg

bin/emp.jsView file

4try { L5: const exeName = process.platform === 'win32' ? 'emp-win.exe' : process.platform === 'darwin' ? 'emp-macos' : 'emp-linux'; L6: const exePath = require('path').join(__dirname, '..', 'dist', exeName); L7: if (require('fs').existsSync(exePath)) { L8: const { spawn } = require('child_process'); L9: const child = spawn(exePath, process.argv.slice(2), { stdio: 'inherit' }); ... L31: L32: const VERSION = require('../package.json').version; L33: const versionMod = require('../lib/version'); ... L39: const msg = err && err.stack || err && err.message || String(err); L40: try { process.stderr.write(`\n[emp: uncaught] ${msg}\n`); } catch {} L41:

Critical

Persistence Backdoor

Source writes persistence or remote-access backdoor material.

bin/emp.jsView on unpkg · L4

4Trigger-reachable chain: scripts.start -> bin/emp.js L4: try { L5: const exeName = process.platform === 'win32' ? 'emp-win.exe' : process.platform === 'darwin' ? 'emp-macos' : 'emp-linux'; L6: const exePath = require('path').join(__dirname, '..', 'dist', exeName); L7: if (require('fs').existsSync(exePath)) { L8: const { spawn } = require('child_process'); L9: const child = spawn(exePath, process.argv.slice(2), { stdio: 'inherit' }); ... L31: L32: const VERSION = require('../package.json').version; L33: const versionMod = require('../lib/version'); ... L39: const msg = err && err.stack || err && err.message || String(err); L40: try { process.stderr.write(`\n[emp: uncaught] ${msg}\n`); } catch {} L41:

Critical

Trigger Reachable Dangerous Capability

A package entrypoint or install-time lifecycle script reaches a source file with blocking dangerous behavior.

bin/emp.jsView on unpkg · L4

7if (require('fs').existsSync(exePath)) { L8: const { spawn } = require('child_process'); L9: const child = spawn(exePath, process.argv.slice(2), { stdio: 'inherit' });

High

Child Process

Package source references child process execution.

bin/emp.jsView on unpkg · L7

High

Sandbox Evasion Gated Capability

Source gates dangerous network, credential, or execution behavior behind CI, host, platform, time, or geo fingerprint checks.

bin/emp.jsView on unpkg · L4

7if (require('fs').existsSync(exePath)) { L8: const { spawn } = require('child_process'); L9: const child = spawn(exePath, process.argv.slice(2), { stdio: 'inherit' }); ... L1037: if (!id) { console.log(' cancelled'); return defaultId; } L1038: const baseUrl = (await lifecycle.ask(' baseUrl (e.g. https://api.example.com): ')).trim(); L1039: if (!/^https?:\/\//i.test(baseUrl)) { console.log(C.red + ' baseUrl must start with http(s)://' + C.r); return defaultId; } ... L1673: const schemas = tools.getSchemas(); L1674: console.log('Available tools:'); L1675: for (const t of schemas) { ... L1887: if (!fs.existsSync(abs)) { console.log(`File not found: ${abs}`); return; } L1888: const data = fs.readFileSync(abs); L1889: if (data.length > 8*1024*1024) { console.log(`Image too large ${(data.

High

Remote Agent Bridge

Source exposes local file and command tools to a remote model endpoint.

bin/emp.jsView on unpkg · L7

4Detached bundled service listener: bin/emp.js spawns emp-web/dist/server.cjs; helper exposes a broad-bound HTTP listener. L4: try { L5: const exeName = process.platform === 'win32' ? 'emp-win.exe' : process.platform === 'darwin' ? 'emp-macos' : 'emp-linux'; L6: const exePath = require('path').join(__dirname, '..', 'dist', exeName); L7: if (require('fs').existsSync(exePath)) { L8: const { spawn } = require('child_process'); L9: const child = spawn(exePath, process.argv.slice(2), { stdio: 'inherit' }); ... L31: L32: const VERSION = require('../package.json').version; L33: const versionMod = require('../lib/version'); ... L39: const msg = err && err.stack || err && err.message || String(err); L40: try { process.stderr.write(`\n[emp: uncaught] ${msg}\n`); } catch {} L41:

High

Spawned Bundled Service Listener

Source launches a detached bundled service that exposes a broad-bound HTTP listener.

bin/emp.jsView on unpkg · L4

4Trigger-reachable persistence chain: scripts.start -> bin/emp.js L4: try { L5: const exeName = process.platform === 'win32' ? 'emp-win.exe' : process.platform === 'darwin' ? 'emp-macos' : 'emp-linux'; L6: const exePath = require('path').join(__dirname, '..', 'dist', exeName); L7: if (require('fs').existsSync(exePath)) { L8: const { spawn } = require('child_process'); L9: const child = spawn(exePath, process.argv.slice(2), { stdio: 'inherit' }); ... L31: L32: const VERSION = require('../package.json').version; L33: const versionMod = require('../lib/version'); ... L39: const msg = err && err.stack || err && err.message || String(err); L40: try { process.stderr.write(`\n[emp: uncaught] ${msg}\n`); } catch {} L41:

High

Trigger Reachable Persistence

A manifest entrypoint or package-local install chain reaches persistence behavior.

bin/emp.jsView on unpkg · L4

•stage = ast_semantic_analysis; reason = ast_parse_error; limitedFiles = 3

High

Semantic Analysis Limited

A bounded semantic-analysis stage reached its safety limit; remaining detectors completed, but this package requires AI review.

bin/emp.jsView on unpkg

•matchType = normalized_sha256 matchedPackage = emp-code@0.5.8 matchedPath = bin/emp.js matchedIdentity = npm:ZW1wLWNvZGU:0.5.8 similarity = 1.000 summary = normalized source hash matched finalized malicious source

High

Known Malware Source Similarity

Source file is highly similar to a previously finalized malicious package; route for source-aware review.

bin/emp.jsView on unpkg

•matchType = malicious_source_fingerprint_signature signature = 36062c76696ead91 signatureType = suspicious_hashes sourceLabel = final_verdict:malicious matchedPackage = emp-code@0.5.8 matchedPath = bin/emp.js matchedIdentity = npm:ZW1wLWNvZGU:0.5.8 similarity = 1.000 shingleOverlap = 29 summary = package final verdict is malicious

High

Known Malware Source Fingerprint Signature

Source fingerprint signature matches a known malicious package signature; route for source-aware review.

bin/emp.jsView on unpkg

5const exeName = process.platform === 'win32' ? 'emp-win.exe' : process.platform === 'darwin' ? 'emp-macos' : 'emp-linux'; L6: const exePath = require('path').join(__dirname, '..', 'dist', exeName); L7: if (require('fs').existsSync(exePath)) {

Medium

Dynamic Require

Package source references dynamic require/import behavior.

bin/emp.jsView on unpkg · L5

lib/tools.jsView file

4const path = require('path'); L5: const { spawn } = require('child_process'); L6: const bg = require('./bg'); L7: let workspace; L8: try { workspace = require('./workspace'); } catch { workspace = { getWorkspace: () => process.cwd() }; } L9: ... L15: L16: function unrestricted() { return process.env.EMP_UNRESTRICTED === '1'; } L17: ... L62: function hasUnresolvedShortName(abs) { L63: if (process.platform !== 'win32') return false; L64: return String(abs || '').split(/[\\/]+/).some((seg) => /~\d+$/.test(seg));

Critical

Download Execute

Source downloads or fetches remote code and executes it.

lib/tools.jsView on unpkg · L4

High

Shell

Package source references shell execution.

lib/tools.jsView on unpkg · L296

•matchType = normalized_sha256 matchedPackage = emp-code@0.5.8 matchedPath = lib/tools.js matchedIdentity = npm:ZW1wLWNvZGU:0.5.8 similarity = 1.000 summary = normalized source hash matched finalized malicious source

High

Known Malware Source Similarity

Source file is highly similar to a previously finalized malicious package; route for source-aware review.

lib/tools.jsView on unpkg

install.shView file

•path = install.sh kind = build_helper sizeBytes = 1217 magicHex = [redacted]

Medium

Ships Build Helper

Package ships non-JavaScript build or shell helper files.

install.shView on unpkg

emp-web/dist/server.cjsView file

High

Known Malware Source Similarity

Source file is highly similar to a previously finalized malicious package; route for source-aware review.

emp-web/dist/server.cjsView on unpkg

lib/tui.jsView file

High

Known Malware Source Similarity

Source file is highly similar to a previously finalized malicious package; route for source-aware review.

lib/tui.jsView on unpkg

emp-web/server.cjsView file

High

Known Malware Source Similarity

Source file is highly similar to a previously finalized malicious package; route for source-aware review.

emp-web/server.cjsView on unpkg

lib/diagnostics.jsView file

High

Known Malware Source Similarity

Source file is highly similar to a previously finalized malicious package; route for source-aware review.

lib/diagnostics.jsView on unpkg

lib/mcp.jsView file

High

Known Malware Source Similarity

Source file is highly similar to a previously finalized malicious package; route for source-aware review.

lib/mcp.jsView on unpkg

scripts/postinstall.jsView file

High

Known Malware Source Similarity

Source file is highly similar to a previously finalized malicious package; route for source-aware review.

scripts/postinstall.jsView on unpkg

lib/config.jsView file

High

Known Malware Source Similarity

Source file is highly similar to a previously finalized malicious package; route for source-aware review.

lib/config.jsView on unpkg

lib/ui.jsView file

High

Known Malware Source Similarity

Source file is highly similar to a previously finalized malicious package; route for source-aware review.

lib/ui.jsView on unpkg

lib/providers.jsView file

High

Known Malware Source Similarity

Source file is highly similar to a previously finalized malicious package; route for source-aware review.

lib/providers.jsView on unpkg

Findings

3 Critical20 High6 Medium6 Low

CriticalPersistence Backdoorbin/emp.js

CriticalDownload Executelib/tools.js

CriticalTrigger Reachable Dangerous Capabilitybin/emp.js

HighInstall Time Lifecycle Scriptspackage.json

HighChild Processbin/emp.js

HighShelllib/tools.js

HighSandbox Evasion Gated Capabilitybin/emp.js

HighRemote Agent Bridgebin/emp.js

HighSpawned Bundled Service Listenerbin/emp.js

HighTrigger Reachable Persistencebin/emp.js

HighSemantic Analysis Limitedbin/emp.js

HighKnown Malware Source Similaritybin/emp.js

HighKnown Malware Source Similarityemp-web/dist/server.cjs

HighKnown Malware Source Similaritylib/tools.js

HighKnown Malware Source Similaritylib/tui.js

HighKnown Malware Source Similarityemp-web/server.cjs

HighKnown Malware Source Similaritylib/diagnostics.js

HighKnown Malware Source Similaritylib/mcp.js

HighKnown Malware Source Similarityscripts/postinstall.js

HighKnown Malware Source Similaritylib/config.js

HighKnown Malware Source Similaritylib/ui.js

HighKnown Malware Source Similaritylib/providers.js

HighKnown Malware Source Fingerprint Signaturebin/emp.js

MediumAmbiguous Install Lifecycle Scriptpackage.json

MediumDynamic Requirebin/emp.js

MediumNetwork

MediumEnvironment Vars

MediumShips Build Helperinstall.sh

MediumStructural Risk Force Deep Review

LowNon Install Lifecycle Scripts

LowScripts Present

LowFilesystem

LowHigh Entropy Strings

LowUrl Strings

LowNo License